Chickens laying less in the winter.

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

A random lady I was chatting to in the supermarket told me to mix water in with feed during winter and they'll keep laying, she said her family have done that for generations.

 

[halefamily_flock]

Mine have just started laying after the fall molt. I got the biggest egg I’ve ever seen yesterday, see photo. These are Bielefelder hens now 13 months old now, hatched here last winter. I wear XL gloves and my wedding ring is size 11 1/2. Thing is huge!

Congratulations! My Dominique and Sussex girls are *finally* starting to lay again after the fall molt. Hoping the Spitzhauben and Cream Legbars are close behind.

 

[Aapomp831]

A random lady I was chatting to in the supermarket told me to mix water in with feed during winter and they'll keep laying, she said her family have done that for generations.

Also, an old wives tale.

 

[Aapomp831]

What kind of health issues? ..My chickens nibble on my Silverbeet plants and baby spinach through the fence daily, they love eating it! So is this a food they should not be allowed to have?

https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2014/06/the-danger-of-feeding-too-much-spinach.html

 

[rosemarythyme]

A random lady I was chatting to in the supermarket told me to mix water in with feed during winter and they'll keep laying, she said her family have done that for generations.

Also, an old wives tale.

I agree. I feed fermented and wet feed all year 'round and I none of my hens ever lay in winter once they molt.

https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2014/06/the-danger-of-feeding-too-much-spinach.html

There's also this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/spinach-and-oxalic-acid.1327080/ - I do feed my chickens some spinach, as they really love it, but it's sporadic and a small amount of their diet, and as such does not seem to affect their shell quality.

 

[springchicken66]

Well folks. My chickens used to stop laying in the winter. Now they are laying in the winter. The only difference is I now feed them handfuls of spinach every day. They are healthy and happy. That is all I know. For me it is working.

 

[Aapomp831]

Well folks. My chickens used to stop laying in the winter. Now they are laying in the winter. The only difference is I now feed them handfuls of spinach every day. They are healthy and happy. That is all I know. For me it is working.

Right, but again I encourage you to look up the definition of confirmation bias. I don’t doubt what you’re saying is true, but more than likely the spinach is not the cause of the increased laying. There are many other factors to be considered and reviewed before coming to an absolute conclusion.

 

[MissMonty]

While it is great that it is working for you, I do have to agree with others. Most likely it is a coincidence. All three of my girls are laying eggs almost daily, I DON'T feed spinach (well unless it happens to be a tiny bit in our food scraps but generally our bearded dragon would get it). So why? What am I doing different? No idea. Its 2020 there is no rules this year

Too much spinach leads to calcium absorption issues. It is a proven fact, not a wives tale. Calcium absorption issues lead to major laying problems that could ultimately kill your chickens. There are much safer ways to attempt to encourage egg production in the winters that do not risk their health.

What kind of health issues? ..My chickens nibble on my Silverbeet plants and baby spinach through the fence daily, they love eating it! So is this a food they should not be allowed to have?

The issue really is a moderation getting a tiny bit they can reach like a nibble or two probably won't hurt them. But having it a major part of their daily diet is the issue. The issues arise when they have an "excess" of Oxalic acid in their system. I have no idea exactly how much they'd have to eat for it to be in excess. If you think they're eatting a considerable amount each day I'd probably put a barrier up so they can no longer reach them.

 

[Chickenman MAN]

My girls are still laying a few eggs every day in spite of the short days of light. An `old timer` chicken farmer told me the best way to keep them laying is to feed them fresh spinach every day. We tried it and it works !!!! Simple.

Lol it won't work for my chickens..they hate spinach!

 

[ladybrasa]

So I’m going to jump in here with commentary a little different than what I was intending.

OP: While I agree that spinach is probably not causing their winter laying, fresh veggies are good for chooks and it’s working for you, so do what you do The Fresh Eggs daily article also mentioned adding the ACV to possibly mitigate effects of oxalic acid.

Fresh Eggs Daily article: I was on board with the effects of oxalic acid, but after reading, the references are from her mom and the references below all dealt with oxalic acid effects in humans. What is an issue with humans might not be an issue with chickens. Err on the side of caution? Sure, why not? Also most leafy greens, forgeable weeds, some fruits and grains, etc contain some oxalic acid. Certainly spinach contains higher levels, but especially if you have free-range chickens, they come into contact with lots of the stuff. I did a quick google search for research regarding oxalic acid and chickens specifically and didn’t find much, other than chicken/farm sites saying it’s bad based on people stuff. I did find one study that fed straight oxalic acid to chickens and checked the calcium in the egg shells. It was a small study (and yeah, I just read the abstract). Basically no change in shell calcium amounts. High levels effected appetite, but again they were feeding as straight oxalic acid Also a BYC post cautioning a blanket ban on spinach for chickens:

https://search.proquest.com/openvie...852574173d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2049202

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/spinach-and-oxalic-acid.1327080/

To the person whose chooks eat young spinach - don’t quote me, but I think young leaves or shoots contain less oxalic acid?

To the person with the EE that isn’t laying - Mine had a hard molt but is all feathered in now but has stopped laying presumably for the winter. I’m assuming EEs aren’t good winter layers. Laying in winter seems to be effected in part at least by breed - many breeds are known for winter laying, and many are not. It also seems an individual hen thing. At present I only get one egg every other day or so from a scruffy mix breed 8+ year old hen